Coffee or Tea?

This was the question of the day while staining paper... coffee or tea? It was a great day - a mixture of paper, sisters, fun and lazy cats. At the end of the day it was unanimously decided that tea was the best choice for paper while coffee was better to drink :)

The most serious results of our work are yet to come, as the piles of aged paper are still in the press, waiting to get flat and ready to be bound.

More pics freshly uploaded on Flickr.
  

Long time no blog

Last couple of weeks have been so busy for me that I have neglected my blog. I just returned from vacation back to the online world and wow, I see so many things have happened. I hope I can catch up with you guys!

I couldn't wait to get my hands on a book... and here it is, my latest creation, a miniature journal inspired by a wonderful 19th century photo found at a flea market in Bucharest.

 

More soon :)
 

Paris, oh Paris...

What an amazing place. I have returned to Paris after 8 years. Many things have changed meanwhile, but not my desire to stay and live there for the rest of my life. It's not about the zillion places to see, but about the things you can do. It's amazing! And that city... it just feels right to me. In the crowd of the streets by day or by night I didn't feel stranger for a bit.

Surely compared to Portugal life is considerably more expensive but still I managed to come back with a few goodies. Here they are... well, the book related ones!

Treasures from the Vanves flea market

Supplies from incredible fine art and bookbinding stores

Happy Birthday, Sis!!!

Ok, I know it's not very imaginative from one bookbinder to another, but this year your present is nothing else but a journal :) Still, I wanted it to be special so I made it with handmade paste paper covers and leather spine. You can imagine that it also has a chip in there somewhere so I can track it anytime ;) just like in our childhood, only a bit more sophisticated :)

Happy Birthday dear sis! I miss you and love you very much!!!
 

 

  

Trying my hand

It's been too long since I haven't painted. At least on something other than my books :) One of my early fascinations was illuminated manuscripts. Many years ago I made copies from Byzantine manuscripts and had them exhibited in club from Lucerne, Switzerland. With help from my friends in two weeks I sold almost all my works. It was such a great experience for me at that time, as I was a fresh graduate from university. Now, the preparations for the medieval fair opened my appetite for medieval manuscripts again. So I made these small reproductions from the Bestiary of Aberdeen, an English manuscript from around 1200 available online here.

I really enjoyed to paint these details. The copies measure around 4 x 4 inches and are painted in egg tempera on golden leaf.

And below, a few archive images that I am lucky to still have. They are from the expo in Lucerne in 2003. All I had at that time was a floppy-disk Mavica that did its best :)

   Magdalena Club, Lucerne, 2003.